


Goodnight, Sweet Dreams

by poisonstrategy



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Short One Shot, but he ends up happy so don't worry, ritsu being sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:01:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25418863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poisonstrategy/pseuds/poisonstrategy
Summary: Ritsu's been having nightmares lately.Thankfully, his boyfriend's there to help.
Relationships: Isara Mao/Sakuma Ritsu
Comments: 9
Kudos: 70





	Goodnight, Sweet Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> i need some writing warmups, friends wanted me to write ritsumao, so here's ritsumao. this was surprisingly fun to write

It was the weekend. 

And Ritsu Sakuma was awake _again_. 

Not by his own choice or because he wanted to wake up, but because he felt like he had to. He had been having recurring nightmares for weeks now; they were mostly absent during short naps in the day, but would sink down into him as he slept at night. Nightmares of Knights shunning him and leaving him and being thrown onto the ground by the friends he had trusted for years. Vivid sights of flying high after an untimely demise and seeing a peaceful world without him. 

What tug at his exhausted heart most, however, were the ones where he lost Mao. 

The others could be seen as mere blurry images when they’re melded together in a sea of recurring nightmares that had been going on for months. He had been long since desensitized to the terrors he saw asleep, but the ones where he lost the one he cared about most stuck out like a sore thumb. It made it hard for him to sleep, out of character for a boy like him.

And, to his horror, he had one again. 

It lingered longer than usual, his body keeping him asleep for quite a while. It was vivid in every sense, almost lucid, but without any sense of control or knowing it was fabricated by his mind. He saw his boyfriend walk away into a field of black mums, many of them wilted, stems losing color. Ritsu himself was completely paralyzed, unable to speak or move as he watched Mao step down into the unknown before fading away completely. The news reported on a young and tragic death; the loss of a member of Trickstar. A cause of death was never found. In his slumber, he couldn’t find closure or even slight knowledge of what happened to his beloved.

Ritsu shook in his bed, the stuffed animals he slept with being kicked off due to the fearful and erratic movements he made in his sleep. He looked down at the floor, the plush toy Mao had bought for him laying on the ground. Weakly, he picked it up, holding it in his arms, tracing across the fur with one of his fingers. 

It was a small black cat in a sitting down position. The ears were small triangles, the insides of them a soft pink color. It had a heart on one of its hind legs. Mao gave it to him as a gift when they had first begun dating, affectionately naming it “Ritnyan”. 

He groggily held it close to him for a while before turning on his phone to check the time. 3:00 AM on a Saturday. 

_Maa-kun’s sleep schedule hasn’t been the best lately… I… wonder if he’s awake._

He turned down his phone brightness and texted Mao with a single _“maaakunnn…”_

The response was almost immediate. 

_“Looks like the sleeping beauty’s awake~!! ♡ Wasn’t expecting you to wake up this early in the morning. Didja sleep well? ^_^”_

_“no not really . might need to call actually if you can”_

Without a moment of hesitation on his end, Mao called his boyfriend, asking him if everything was okay. Ritsu explained everything, plush in hand, voice shaky. 

“I see… I’m so sorry, Ritchan. I’m not gonna go anywhere.  
Hey, if you like, I could come over to your dorm with my laptop. I have a subscription, I can put on whatever movie you like and lay down with you.”

Ritsu’s face lit up gently, a slight red tint forming at the kindness. “That’s what I need. Thank you.”

* * *

It wasn’t long before Ritsu heard knocking at the door. He shambled to the entrance of his dorm and opened it, Mao before him, concern showing in his face. He had his bag slung over one shoulder and a coffee cup with a lid in his hand. Ritsu rubbed his eyes, looking at the cup.

“Is… Is that for me?”

Mao nodded in response. “Hot chocolate! I had some mix for it back at my place, it’s greatly soothing for me. I was hoping it would be soothing for you as well.”

Ritsu took the cup and carefully removed the lid, blowing on the beverage a bit before taking a sip. It was warm, but not unbearably hot, probably because it had been sitting for a bit as Mao came to his dorm. It was surprisingly soothing to drink. 

“Thank you, Maa-kun.”

He backed up slightly as Mao closed the door behind them with a small _click_. He held Ritsu’s cheek, the exhausted raven melting into the touch. If he were just a bit more tired, he could’ve very well fallen asleep right then and there. 

“Maa-kunnn… Pick me uppp…”

His boyfriend giggled a bit as he held him up in his arms, Ritsu holding his arm up as best as he could to not spill the hot chocolate Mao gave him.

When they finally arrived at his room, Mao set him down on the mattress. Ritsu put the cup of hot chocolate on the nightstand, gently setting it down in the middle to make sure it wouldn’t spill. 

“Hope you don’t mind me doing this, Ritchan,” Mao remarked as he picked up the stuffed animals, placing them back on the bed, some of them on Ritsu. 

After putting all of the plushes back, he got his laptop out of his bag, laying down next to Ritsu, setting the computer on his lap. He turned it on, Ritsu already beginning to close his eyes as he rested his head on Mao’s shoulder. It wasn’t long before he couldn’t fight back the need to attempt to sleep again, now that his boyfriend was here with him. 

In his nightmares, he heard screams, arguing, sounds of things being broken. But for this moment, he was grounded in reality. There wasn’t pure silence, not a void of nothingness, but gentle noises. The whirring of the ceiling fan, the clicking of Mao’s fingers tapping on the keyboard, and the slow breaths of them both. 

Mao wrapped an arm around his shoulder, providing a light weight and some extra warmth. For once these past few months, he was content. He didn’t feel a nightmare coming on. He wasn’t sleeping because his body was making him, he was falling asleep because he was relaxed and felt as if he needed it.

And within a few minutes, he was out.

“Ritchan! I got the movies. Care to pick one out?”

He looked down.

“Ritchan?” He poked his cheek.

Fast asleep. 

_I guess I can stay here for a while..._

**Author's Note:**

> ritsu deserves so much happiness


End file.
